Forever in Service
by Archangel212
Summary: A young man with a terrible curse.  Mikal joins Lady Yuna on her Pilgrimage to repent and hopefully find forgiveness for his awful actions.  Rated M just to be safe.  Violence, slight language, and possible love involved.
1. The Beginning of a Journey

Chapter 01 – The Beginning of a Journey

_It was another day_

_Another day of living in agony with himself._

Mikal awoke to the sound of a bustling city and the sound of seagulls squawking outside his hotel window. He say up in his bed and stretched his arms and exhaled slowly, pushing his shoulder length jet black hair out of his eyes. Luca was always a busy city no matter what time it was; it reminded him of Zanarkand.

When It was still standing.

He swung his legs over the bed and stood up, turning to look out the window of his rented hotel room. The sun shone more brightly then it ever had that morning. There wasn't a could in the sky. Mikal turned away from the window and looked at the ground. Standing on his toes, he slowly leaned forward and held his hands out in front of him. His body weight crashed onto his hands as he started to do a set of pushups. He got to 25 and then stopped. Mikal usually did more to prepare his body for the rest of the day but today he had to leave early – he had a boat to catch.

He stood back up and walked into the bathroom, grabbing a towel as he went. He threw the towel down on the top of the toilet and turned on the water for the shower. Mikal looked at where the mirror should be and clenched his teeth, it was missing. He wasn't staying in a run down and dirty motel, no, he was staying in one of the more lavish ones in Luca. Mikal looked at his hands and flexed his fingers, there were cuts all along the tips and his palms were covered in crusted blood. Since that fateful day all those years ago, Mikal was unable to look himself in the mirror – he couldn't even look at his reflection in water. Every time he saw his own face he was reminded of all the terrible acts he had committed, granted that Mikal could have just avoided looking in the mirror, he almost seemed to enjoy torturing himself with his pain.

Mikal stepped in the shower and washed off the blood from his hands. He pushed his black hair back and sighed as the warm water washed over his toned body. Mikal's body was covered in scars, some large, some small and some that were almost invisible. But Mikal saw them. He saw them everyday and remembered how he got each and every one of them. The one he recalled the best was the one on his back.

A fiend had snuck up on him when he was sleeping one night and tried to make him it's next meal. Mikal panicked and startled it, causing the creature to dig it's claws deep into his back in defence. Mikal was lucky he wasn't paralysed from the ordeal, just badly injured. Over the years he had grown to enjoy pain, almost embracing it. He always kept one saying in his mind: "Pain lets you know that you're still alive". His bright green eyes flamed as he recalled the phrase.

He turned off the water to the shower and stepped out. He dried off his body and stepped out into the room, it was surprisingly cold on such a warm looking day. He threw the towel in the corner of the room and began to get dressed. Mikal put on a pair of loose fitting black leather trousers that had numerous buckles and pockets on it as well as a silver belt with a oval belt buckle on it. He pulled a tight white undershirt over his torso followed by a red v-neck shirt with the logo of an angel on the bottom corner. Next he pulled on a pair of black biker boots, also with chrome angel's on them, and buckled them up. Last was a pair of black riding gloves that had numerous rips in them and were almost unwearable aside from the pieces of metal that held them all together. Mikal then stood up and stretched his body and walked over to a dresser that was positioned up against the far wall of the room. He touched his forehead, his naval and then both pectorals and kissed his thumb and opened the top drawer.

Inside were two mythril fused katar's. Katar's were blades that were worn on the hands like a punching glove and used to deflect enemy attacks and be countered by a sword or a dagger. Mikal used two of these weapons to gain an upper hand on the enemy. Mikal had modified them to be worn on his wrist's instead of his hands, this allowed him to counter an attack and then strike with a punch or to throw the enemy away or perhaps disarm him. The single blade could be opened to reveal an internal blade which was used to cause more damage or to destroy a foe's weapon. Mikal had changed this design slightly, installing two triggers that would be pulled by his middle and ring finger that allowed the centre blade to fire out on a long cable to bring far away enemies to him or to help him climb when needed.

"Protect me well this day." He said as he ran a hand over the weapons.

He strapped them on his wrist with several leather buckles and placed his fingers through the holes that allowed his weapon to collapse and expand. When Mikal wore his brown cloak, the collapsed weapons were almost invisible under it. Too many foes had made the mistake of thinking him to be unarmed and were subsequently killed because of it. He pulled on the triggers and his weapon quickly collapsed back to its compact state and was hidden under his cloak. He pulled up the hood and stepped out of the hotel room and started his way to the dock.

* * *

The day was quite warm and Mikal enjoyed the warmth. A slight smile broke on his face as he breathed in the sea air. Even though Mikal had a very lamentable aura about him he still found time to enjoy the wonders of Spira. It's blue skies, the clear oceans, blitzball – well not so much blitzball anymore, the peace and quiet when he was out in the middle of nowhere and all he could hear would be the sounds of the crickets. Spira was a beautiful place and he had watched how it changed over the years. He saw his boat loading on passengers, it was just getting ready to leave. He quickened his pace and stepped onto the gangplank. The steward, who was appropriately named "Steward", looked up at Mikal with a slightly fearful look as he held out his hand to check Mikal's ticket. Mikal lowered his hood off his face and smiled lightly at the deck man. He presented his ticket and the Steward shakily took it from his hand, the smile seemed to intensify the feeling of uneasiness he once had. He handed the ticket back to Mikal and stepped aside so Mikal could pass. Mikal took the ticket back and walked past, raising his hood as he did so.

The boat wasn't very crowded, he passed only a few people as he made his way down inside the bowels of the ship. He came to the room marked on his ticket and he stepped inside. He looked around at his new change of scenery.

"Welcome to paradise." He said sarcastically as he sat down on his bed.

Mikal suddenly clutched his head and groaned in pain. His head shot straight up and his mouth was wide open, his eyes rolled into the back of his head. His body began to radiate slightly with a white light.

Images flashed through his mind like lightning. People, places, things, events and words that Mikal was unable to understand. Then one clear image came at the end. The death of a Summoner.

He slumped back onto the bed and rubbed his head in pain, the same vision from last night. It meant that he was going on the right track. The visions were just a small part of his abilites. Telepathy, telekinesis, psychic persuasion and probably more that he still hadn't discovered yet. Some people would call him a prophet, being able to tell the future from random visions that made no sense. Others called him a saviour, showing up just when he was needed. Mikal ignored the majority of the names, the names didn't lessen the pain he felt when the visions came. All he was able to make out from his current vision was Besaid Island, a woman, and the name of the ship. He had followed the clues this far and he knew what he had to do.

Plus the pain from this one was overwhelming.

For years he had ensured that selected Summoners always reached Zanarkand to achieve the final aeon. A task that he was cursed with. This time was no different. He felt the same vision coming on again as he clutched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger and clenched his teeth in a silent scream. As the pain washed over him he remembered the line that he had kept with him for so long.

_'Pain is good. Pain lets you know that you're still alive!'_

_A/N: Yes the first chapter was a victim of one of my foretold rewrites. I didn't want to do it but I realized, reading over it again, that this chapter was by far the weakest in my opinion. I like this version much better than the last because I got to put some more thought and some new ideas into it. Anyway, R/R and let me know what you think!_


	2. Shocking Discovery

Chapter 02 - Shocking Discovery

If there was one thing that Mikal hated more than anything, it was sailing. Not only was he deathly afraid of the water but he also got seasick very easily. It wasn't like he was unable to swim, it wasn't that at all, he just was afraid of the deep darkness that the water held.

_And all of the ferocious creatures that the darkness hid._

Mikal had been on the boat for 24 hours and already he was sick and tired of the sea air. The boat had been pounded with waves for the past three hours and Mikal couldn't take much more of it. As the boat lurched back and forth so did Mikal's stomach. The meditation did little to supress his feelings of nasuea and the color of his face began to disappear and turn a sickly green. The ship was hit with a large wave and he couldn't take it anymore. Mikal sprinted to the bathroom and collapsed to his knees and wretched into the toilet. He raised his head out of the toilet and patted the side of it "Thanks for being there for me, buddy." he said as he wiped his mouth.

He sighed and flushed the disgusting sight away as he dropped his head and shook it, trying to free himself of the sickness that had gripped him so strongly. Mikal stood up and just as he did the boat was slammed with another wave, sending the boat reeling sideways. He collapsed down and wretched into the bowl again. He grunted with anger and flushed his bile away. He decided not to stand up and instead chose to crawl away back into the main room.

He looked up and thought that he saw a sign from Yevon. Plunged in a bucket of ice and tied with a bow was a bottle full of light brown liquid. "Thank the Maker!" he said with a happy tone. It was a bottle of Spirian Whiskey, not strong enough to get someone drunk but strong enough to suppress even the strongest type of sea sickness.

He popped the top off the bottle and took a large swig. Mikal swished the liquid around in his mouth and swallowed it. "Okay...so that's a little bit better." The sickness was already starting to subside and his face returned to its original color. He returned the bottle to its place in the ice bucket and returned to his meditation on the floor. After drinking a small amount of the whiskey he was able to concentrate more on his energy management than on the movements of the ship.

There was a knock on his door. "Come in." he called out. The door opened and he heard light footsteps. "Excuse me sir" said a young woman's voice "The boat will be docking in Besaid in ten minutes." Mikal opened his eyes and looked at the young girl standing in the doorway. "Thank you. Please thank whoever put the whiskey in my room." The girl smiled and bowed. "It was one of the other girls, I'll make sure to let her know." The girl left the room and Mikal stood up to get ready to go topside.

Mikal stood on the deck of the ship looking out at the arriving passengers, the hot sun beating down on them. He didn't see his summoner yet. He wasn't one of the summoners guardians that they had picked, no, he was to watch over them until they arrived at Zanarkand. Around ten people had embarked on the boat ride to Kilika, most likely going there to board the boat to Luca to see the Blitzball tournament.

_Then he saw them._

The Summoner was flanked on either side of her by her guardians. One was a very goth looking woman who wore a very revealing top and the other was clearly a Besaid native, his strong accent giving him away. The one that really caught Mikal's eye was a massive Ronso. The Ronso were a large cat like people that had one single horn growing from their forehead who lived on Mt. Gagazet, the final stop on the Summoner's Pilgramidge. If look's could kill, there would already be several dead people on the boat due to the Ronso's angry stare at some of them. He thought that was it for the guardians but the final one he saw tagging along made his breath catch in his throat.

_It was the star player from the Zanarkand Abes._

His name was Tidus and somehow he was with the Summoner, how he was still alive or how he was able to survive when Zanarkand was destroyed was a mystery to Mikal but he was with the Summoner 1000 years later. Mikal began to speculate whether the same curse could be placed on Tidus.

_Which was also how his whole predicament started._

There was no mistaking Tidus' identity. Shaggy blonde hair, tanned skin, athletic frame. He was who all the girls swooned over. He followed the Summoner and her guardians like a lost puppy, trailing behind and constantly asking questions. The gothic woman seemed to be getting very annoyed. As they boarded the ship Mikal and Tidus locked eyes for a few seconds. Tidus opened his mouth to say something but Mikal pulled the hood lower over his head and stepped backwards into the small amount of shade that was behind him. The Summoner couldn't be much younger than Mikal, probably only 17 or so. He would be sad to see her go. She had two different color eyes, one green and the other was blue. She was slightly shorter than Mikal and she had dark brown hair, in summary: She was beautiful.

Many of the Summoner's that he had escorted in the past had been in their mid or late 20's, sometimes much older. This one was just a baby. In between the numerous "Thank you so much" and "Bring us the calm!" Mikal caught her name. "Good luck, Yuna!" Yuna. His Summoner's name was Yuna.

Mikal suddenly felt his heart skip a beat. "No..." he breathed "Braska's daughter? Not like this, anyone but her." Mikal closed his eyes and ground his teeth. Braska had talked about Yuna everyday on his Pilgramige ten years ago. Mikal never thought that she was as beautiful as he talked about, then again he was talking about a seven year old. Mikal decided to head below deck and meditate on what he had learned, it was already taking a toll on his mind. The daughter of one of his best friends was about to throw her own life away in the name of Yevon just like her father.

He gritted his teeth and turned around in fustration to head towards his room. When Mikal got below deck he had just started to open the door to his room when he heard footsteps, footsteps trying to be sneaky. He didn't know who it was or what they wanted but he knew it couldn't be good. He passed the door to his room and headed down the hallway and around the corner. The footsteps drew closer...and closer...and closer.

Just as the person was right on top of him Mikal turned the corner and grabbed the person by the collar. Slamming him on the wall, Mikal grunted as the person began to resist his grip.

"Gahhh! He- HEY! Let go of me! Put me down!" It was Tidus.

"Why are you following me?" Mikal said in a calm tone as Tidus continued to resist.

Tidus tried to pry Mikal's hands off of his collar but was futile. "I...I saw you on the deck of the ship. You-" Tidus began to choke "You look like someone I knew!" he said in desperation.

Mikal's face turned to an intimidating look. "I'm not choking you so stop coughing." He set Tidus down on the ground and crossed his arms over his chest. "You don't know me so I suggest you back off before I get really mad. And I suggest you keep our meeting a secret. Got that, kid?" Mikal said as he poked Tidus in the chest roughly.

Tidus flinched as Mikal poked him. "Yeah...yeah sure." Tidus ran off down the hallway and back up to the deck.

Mikal sighed and shook his head "Just like Jecht said he was, a total wimp. Someone is going to have to teach that kid to man up." He walked back to his room and shut and locked the door behind him. Returning to his spot on the floor he assumed his usual meditating position and let his energy flow freely throughout his body. "Braska" he said "If only you could see the beautiful young woman your daughter has become. I would give my life to exchange our fates from ten years ago. I am thankful that you were able to understand me for what I did."

_"I am so sorry."_

_A/N: Okay so expect a little more background info on Mikal in the coming chapters. I've got bits and pieces of the story all written down but I'm still filling in some of the more major plot points as I go and if need be I will change previous chapters to follow the storyline that I want. Thanks for reading thus far and expect more chapters up in a couple of days. And to those that are wondering: "Mikal" is pronounced: Mick-ale. Michael just seemed too un-final fantasy to me. _


	3. Terror at sea

Chapter 03 - Terror at Sea

Tidus walked away from his sudden assault extremely quickly. Who was that man? And why did he think that he knew him? He seemed so familiar but yet Tidus couldn't put his finger on where he had seen him before.

"OOOF!" came a woman's voice.

"Hey watch ou-" Tidus stopped "Hey Lulu." he said with a nervous chuckle.

Lulu stood in front of Tidus glaring at him, her hands crossed over her chest. "What are you doing down here?" she asked him.

"I...uhhh...thought I saw something." He said as he rubbed the back of his head. Lulu cocked an eyebrow.

"Like what?" she said, unamused at his answer.

"Ummm...I thought that I saw someone I knew. Might just be an effect of Sin's toxin though, makin' me see things." Tidus said nervously.

Lulu rolled her eyes and sighed. "Well the sooner you find someone that you know the sooner we can get rid of you and _I _can travel in peace." Lulu walked away down the hall towards her room and closed the door. Tidus sighed, he didn't understand why Lulu didn't like him. He continued down the hall to the stairs leading up to the deck. He passed O'aka on his way and stopped to spend a bit of gil on some potions.

"Nice to see you bein' nice to ole O'aka." The merchant said.

Tidus shrugged "If we run into a fight I'll be fully stocked up if anyone gets hurt. Thanks!" he said as he gave O'aka a thumbs up.

O'aka smiled a toothy smile and said "If you need anything, you let O'aka know and next time we meet I'll have it in stock."

Tidus rubbed his chin "I'll be sure to remember that." he said as he continued past and up to the deck of the ship. The warm sun felt nice on his skin as he stretched. He looked around, trying to find Yuna. There was a large crowd of people at the bow of the ship and Tidus could see the very top of her head above the crowd of people. He hurried over.

There was all kinds of talking about Yuna and her father, High Summoner Braska. Tidus wondered what her father was like. He walked over to where Wakka stood.

"So is Yuna's father famous or something?" Tidus asked with curiosity.

"She's the daughter of High Summoner Braska, you saw his statue of the temple. Lord Braska defeated Sin ten years ago. Yuna is the heir to a great legacy."

Tidus bit his lip. "Its tough..." Tidus said "when your father's famous." Tidus knew what living up to a legacy was all about. His father was the best blitzball player in all of Zanarkand and everyone expected Tidus to exceed his father in all ways, but no matter how hard he tried his father was always better. Tidus hated his father for the way he treated him and his mother. Jecht always called Tidus a crybaby, always told him to suck it up and get tough. Just thinking about it made his blood boil.

Wakka looked down at Tidus. "Wha?" he said puzzled.

"Wakka's a bit lacking in the imagination department." Lulu chimed in.

Wakka looked confused. "What?" he said.

Tidus couldn't help but laugh. "Thanks Lulu, I'll keep that in mind." he said.

Wakka stood there scratching his head before groaning and stood with his hands on his hips. When Tidus turned around he saw that the crowd around Yuna had disappeared and she was now standing alone at the bow of the ship. Tidus walked up to the bow and Yuna turned around, smiled, and stepped aside to allow him to stand beside her.

Tidus walked up beside her and stretched his arms and yawned loudly.

"The wind" Yuna said quietly "It's nice."

"Hmmm." Tidus said, not knowing what to say. The two of them stood there for several more seconds before Yuna began to giggle slightly, then Tidus joined in. The two of them suddenly burst out into full blown laughter and started smiling at each other After several minutes of continuous laughter they stopped and cleared their throats.

"You're a blitzball player aren't you? From Zanarkand right?" Yuna broke the silence.

Tidus turned to look at Yuna, her brown hair blowing in the breeze. "You hear that from Wakka?" Tidus said, embarrassed that she asked him that due to the fact that nobody believed his story.

"Wakka...Wakka doesn't believe me at all." Tidus said as he sat down on a chain guarding fence.

Yuna giggled again and stepped back. "But...I believe you." she said as she clasped her hands behind her back.

Tidus suddenly perked up and listened. "Huh?" he said, surprised that Yuna believed his story.

"I've heard in Zanarkand there is a great stadium all lit up, even at night." She said. Tidus, unable to say anything regarding Yuna's sudden topic stuck with his "Huh?"

"Great blitzball tournaments are held there, and the stands are always full." She was almost recalling it as if she was there. Tidus stood up in interest and took a step towards her. "How do you know that?" he exclaimed.

Yuna looked into Tidus' eyes. "A man named Jecht told me. He was my father's guardian."

Tidus almost fainted at her response. Yuna had met his father? How? It didn't add up. Tidus' father was dead.

Tidus frowned. "Jecht." he said in disgust and turned around to lean back on the chain guard fence. "My father. His name is Jecht." Tidus said, not finding any pride or pleasure in mentioning that information.

Yuna gasped "Amazing!" she said with excitement. "You know that our meeting like this must be the blessing of Yevon!" Yuna turned around and leaned on the guard fence beside Tidus.

Tidus groaned. "It sounds like him but...it can't be him."

Yuna tilted her head to the side and put a finger to her chin. "Why not?" she said, her eyes filled with curiosity.

Tidus took a breath. "My old man...he died. Ten years ago. Off the coast of Zanarkand."

Yuna closed her eyes and turned around. "I'm...I'm sorry." she said with sadness in her voice.

"He went out to sea for training one day and never came back" Tidus continued "And no one has seen him since then."

Yuna gasped. "Why...that's the day that Jecht came to Spira."

Tidus looked at her with a confused look on his face. "But..." he started.

Yuna cut him off. "Its true. I first met Jecht ten years and three months ago." she said, trying to convince Tidus of her story. Tidus didn't know what to believe. On one hand, Yuna was telling him that his father had come to Spira, and on the other he had hundreds of people searching the coast of Zanarkand for his father and nothing turned up. Could it be possible that Yuna was telling him the truth?

"I remember that was the day...my father left." Yuna said. Tidus looked at her with a strange look in his eyes, it defiantly works. "The date fits doesn't it?" she said as her eyes pierced into his own.

Tidus rubbed the back of his head. "Dah...huh..." Tidus stuttered clumsily. "Yeah but how would he get here." He said as a counter point.

Yuna smiled to herself as she looked out across the ocean. "You're here. Are you not?" she said as she turned and gazed into his eyes.

Tidus' jaw hung open with no answer. Yuna began to giggle. Tidus pulled his jaw back together and looked into Yuna's eyes. She nodded her head quickly.

**WHAM!**

The boat was hit by something and Yuna went sprawling across the deck but Tidus managed to grab her hand, his balance skills learned by playing blitzball keeping him standing. He spun around and grabbed onto the guard fence.

The boat was slammed again and the boat was tossed around like a toy. Water splashed over the deck and Tidus began to lose his grip on Yuna. For a brief moment their eyes locked in total fear and Yuna slipped from Tidus' grasp. His body went cold as Yuna screamed as she slammed into the spear gun that was attached to the ship.

Kimahri, the Ronso, moved like lightning. Reaching Yuna in two massive bounds and wrapping her up in his arms. For but a second the boat was still and then another massive hit slammed into it. Then a gigantic fin sprang up from the water. The fear in everyone's eyes made Tidus even more scared that he already was.

"SIN!" Someone from behind called out. People on the boat cowered in fear under the shadow of the monster, same ran for cover while others ran along side the boat trying to get a better look at their attacker. A man charged past Yuna and grabbed onto the spear gun, aiming it directly at Sin.

"What do you think you're doing!" Wakka exclaimed in confusion. He turned to the other gun that someone had also manned. "Stick a harpoon in him and we all get dragged under!"

"Sin is going for Kilika. We gotta distract it!" The farthest man screamed out.

"Our families are in Kilika! Forgive us lady Summoner." the closest man said with regret.

Yuna stood there deep in thought, then nodded her head.

"Wait!" Wakka said, already knowing that his words would have no effect. The two spear gunners took aim and fired. "Oh boy..." Wakka said.

The spears sailed across the air, one finding its mark and the other just grazing its target. The wire on the spear grew taunt as the boat was pulled across the sea by Sin. Sin pulled the boat through his wake and the deck was soon flooded with water. People screamed as they were knocked off their feet and hundreds of gallons of water crashed down on them. Tidus turned around and heard a man fly past him. He reached out his hand but the man missed and was tossed off the boat. Tidus turned back around and saw three greyish pods flying towards the ship. They slammed into the ship and quickly transformed into the same creatures that assaulted Zanarkand.

Tidus drew his sword and charged into battle, Kimahri and Yuna right behind him.

A/N: So there is chapter 3 and its completely from Tidus' POV! Not really something I had planned but it just seemed much more interesting than the original chapter I had started. Read and let me know what you think. I just checked now and this chapter is the longest one as of today with 1,847 words. I hope everyone had a safe and happy new year and here's to the best in 2011!


	4. Showtime!

Chapter 04 – Showtime!

Mikal could almost call his meditation this time peaceful. Almost no rocking to the ship, the wood creaked every once in a while but other than that it was quiet, there was a smell of vanilla and cinnamon coming from the kitchen which made Mikal feel at ease and the energy that flowed through Mikal was stronger than ever.

**WHAM!**

Take everything back...

The boat was slammed by something outside! Mikal was thrown across his room and slammed into the wall, he grunted in pain as he slid to the floor. He moaned as he tried to stand up.

**WHAM!**

The boat was hit again and sent Mikal face first into the wall of his room. "What the hell is going on out there?" he yelled as he held his nose in pain. Then he felt it, his nausea was coming back. He managed to slide himself into the bathroom before retching into the toilet once more.

"This is insane...I've hardly had anything to eat! Where is all this coming from!" he shouted in annoyance.

Mikal managed to regain his footing and stumbled back into his room. He raised his head from his hand and started to stumble towards the bottle of whiskey that was on the table, it was already half gone. He grabbed the neck of the bottle, pulled out the cork, and took another large swig. Mikal sighed as he felt the liquid heat up his throat slightly.

The boat was hit again and the bottle was knocked from his hand, shattering on the floor.

"That's so not cool." Mikal said in a unamused tone.

He put the hood on his cloak up and opened the door, determined to figure out what was going on. People outside his room were running around screaming in terror, something wasn't right. He grabbed the closest person he could find, it was the same girl that had come to his room.

"Hey, what's going on out there?" he said as the girl trembled in his grip.

The girl was wide eyed, she was in shock. "Sin." she said.

Mikal's body went ice cold. "Listen. You're going to be okay. Go to your quarters and stay there until its quiet. You understand me?" he said.

"Sin." The girl repeated, she was scared out of her mind.

Mikal sighed. He slapped the girl across the face. "Hey! Get to your quarters and stay there until its quiet! You understand me?" he said forcefully.

The girl looked at him and gave him a strained nod. Mikal let her go and she ran.

Mikal pushed past numerous frightened passengers as he made his way to the deck. The adrenaline already started to flow through his veins, his hands shook and he gripped them tightly to get them under control. His eyes burned with violence, he wanted to fight. Mikal reached the top of the stairs and pushed open the doors to the deck. Surprisingly enough it wasn't a terrible sight. Whatever evidence that a battle was taking place had been washed away with the sea water.

Yuna and her guardians were all standing fighting the Sinspawn that were landing on the deck, and they were doing a pretty good job at it. The fact that they all stood in a pretty line and not all spread out was a good idea, made it easier for ranged warriors to attack and not hit their own. There was a lull in the fighting and everyone took the time to heal. Mikal walked up and took position beside the Ronso.

It looked down at him and growled.

Mikal looked up at him from under his hood. "Easy there, tiger." he said.

"Kimahri think you should leave. You not look like fighter. You get hurt." He said, revealing his name to be Kimahri.

"What are you doin', ya?" The besadian said "You're gonna get yourself killed, brutha!"

Mikal just stood there. Staring at the giant fin in front of them.

"I think he wants to help." Tidus said.

Mikal caught that bit. "Brilliant deduction, kid." he said.

"Hey!" Tidus yelled out "Thats not funny."

The gothic woman chuckled quietly at the remark.

"Please. Let us fight this battle. I do not want to see you get hurt. You have no weapons!" Yuna said with a caring tone. Oh how she had no clue.

Mikal watched as four more Sinspawn were launched off of Sin, flying towards the deck at high speed. Mikal grinned as they landed and transformed.

"Alright everyone, same strategy as before!" Tidus yelled out. When did he become the leader?

Mikal lifted his arms and threw them down at his sides with great force. His katar's unfolded, the handles finding their way into his palms and the blades making a clicking noise as they moved into place. The blades stuck out a good two and a half feet from the handle and Mikal raised up into a fighting stance. He pulled on the levers that were attached to the handles and the blades clicked open and then clicked close.

"I guess he has weapons now." The gothic woman said sarcastically. "Now, they enemy has had enough time to get ready."

Kimahri roared as he charged forward and struck one with his spear, killing it instantly.

_'Nice hit.'_ Mikal thought.

One of the spawn made a run at Yuna and Mikal was just about to react when it was struck with a blitzball. Mikal cocked an eyebrow from under his cloak at the choice of weapon. The ball returned to the Besaidian and he grinned at his victory.

The last one was Mikal's. He charged at it with great speed and slashed at it twice before flipping in the air coming down on its "head". It was dead after the first hit. He heard a loud screeching noise and looked up to see four more spawn coming down at the deck. He rolled out of the way as the one landed right where he was standing. He charged at it with both weapons ready...and it burst into flames.

"What?" he said in confusion.

The gothic woman smiled an evil looking smile at him basically saying "You're next." on it. Mikal didn't question it.

Suddenly Tidus flipped over Mikal's head and cleaved a spawn in two with his sword, which more or less resembled a fish hook. Now the whole party was out of order. There was spawn all over the deck and everyone took several to try and fight off. Someone had to take control of this mess and Tidus wasn't exactly stepping up to the plate.

"Listen!" Mikal yelled "Protect the ranged fighters! Hit them before they land on the deck." Mikal ordered as he spun around and stabbed a spawn through the body and opened the blades up inside of it to cause more damage. The good thing about Sinspawn is that there was no blood to worry about.

Strangely they all listened to him. The ranged fighters began to hit the spawn in the air and whatever landed on the deck was dealt with by Tidus, Kimahri and Mikal. If someone got hurt then Yuna would heal them. The boat was constantly getting knocked around by Sin and Mikal couldn't figure out why, then he saw the spear gun.

"We have to cut that wire off from Sin! He'll pull the whole boat under!" Mikal yelled as he plunged his Katar's into another spawn.

"That's what I said, ya!" The besadian yelled.

"Wakka look out!" Tidus yelled, another name revealed.

A Sinspawn jumped on top of the blitzer and tried to take a bite of him. Mikal reacted the fastest. He ran over and booted the spawn off of him, the spawn being zapped to hell and gone seconds later.

"Thanks, brutha. I thought I was gonna be lunch there for a second." Wakka said.

"Don't mention it. Just keep doin' what you're doin' and we'll survive." Mikal said as he pulled Wakka to his feet.

"Look out!" Wakka yelled as he pointed behind Mikal. Mikal spun around and stabbed a Sinspawn that had jumped at him just inches away from his face with a battle yell. It's several eyes fixated directly on Mikal as its mouth hung open and screeched in pain. The creature was heavy but Mikal didn't notice, the adrenaline rush had taken over. Mikal opened the blades again and sliced clean through its body.

"Lu, hit the wire with a fire spell!" Tidus yelled. Lu? Possibly short for something?

The black mage nodded and fire soon surrounded the wire on the spear gun. There was a loud snapping noise and the wire and most of the gun went flying out to sea. Sin suddenly disappeared beneath the water and its tail end rose hundreds of feet into the air and slammed down into the water, sending wave after wave into the boat as well as a shock-wave that could have been felt miles away.

Water splashed over the boat as everyone held on for their lives. In a moment, it was all over. Everyone started to relax very slowly as they looked for any sign of Sin. Wakka looked worried and then Mikal realized that Tidus was missing.

"Man overboard!" Mikal yelled and Wakka dove into the water to search for Tidus

Kimahri stood by Yuna's side and wouldn't move, his loyalty was unquestionable that was for sure.

Yuna looked over at Mikal and bowed. "Thank you, sir. I feared that we would not have been able to repel such a violent attack."

"Kimahri thank you. You smart fighter." Kimahri said.

The black mage looked at Mikal and simply nodded, she clearly wasn't one for words. Mikal didn't mind though. If she didn't want to talk then Mikal wouldn't say anything.

"You looked like you needed some help. I wasn't about to stand there and let you guys be Sinspawn food." Mikal said as he flicked his hands up and his Katar's once again folded back together and were strapped back on his wrists.

"Especially with a Summoner with you" Mikal said as he lowered his hood, his green eyes gleaming in the sun and his black hair blowing slightly in the wind.

Kimahri growled and gripped his spear. Yuna looked up at him and touched his large paw.

"He means us no harm, Kimahri." Yuna said. She turned to Mikal and did the prayer of Yevon. Mikal only nodded his head, he took no pleasure in worshipping Yevon. Kimahri loosened his grip and nodded at Mikal as well.

"How did you know I was a Summoner?" Yuna asked.

Mikal shook his head and smiled. "I listen. People on this boat feel all special inside because they are in the presence of a Summoner. Especially one of your reputation, Lady Yuna."

Yuna gasped. "How do you know my name?" she said. Kimahri growled again.

"Everyone knows you, Lady Yuna. Everyone who hasn't been living under a rock and eating dirt knows your father, High Summoner Braska, had a daughter. It only made sense that you would follow in his footsteps and defeat Sin." Mikal explained. Almost biting his tongue off when he talked about her father and what he accomplished ten years ago.

"Well...would you still have helped if I wasn't a Summoner?" Yuna asked.

"Most likely not. I saw enemies, and I saw people being attack. I assisted when I was needed." Mikal said as he bowed.

Mikal heard coughing and turned around and ran to the side of the boat. Tidus and Wakka had resurfaced, both of them looking quite beat up.

"Here," Mikal said "give me your hand." Tidus reached up and grabbed Mikal's hand. Tidus looked at him but Mikal turned his head away. He crawled on board behind Mikal and then the two of them helped Wakka up.

"Sir Wakka!" Yuna cried as she ran over to Wakka and embraced him.

"Easy, ya. I'm a little sore." Wakka said as he rubbed his side.

"Oh...sorry." Yuna said as she moved backwards and clasped her hands behind her back.

"And we would have been in a lot more pain if it wasn't for you, brutha." Wakka said as he extended his hand to Mikal. He looked into Wakka's eyes cautiously and then shook his hand and nodded.

"I was just helpin' out was all." Mikal said.

"Well you sure saved our skin's" Wakka said. "Thanks a lot."

Tidus stood behind Wakka and stared at Mikal with a thoughtful look. The two locked eyes for a moment and Mikal brought out a small amount of his energy to transfer a message into Tidus' head.

_'You don't know me kid. Don't even **think **about saying anything in front of the others. If you want answers, you're going to have to be patient.'_

"What did you just say?" Tidus said.

Mikal shrugged his shoulders. "I have no idea what you're talking about, kid." he said calmly.

Tidus shook his head. "No. You said something to me. Didn't anyone else hear it?"

Everyone around Tidus shook their head at him.

"You sure that Sinspawn didn't knock a few screws loose in that head of yours." Mikal said to him. He wasn't getting the picture.

_'Shut up! You're stupider than you look, you know that? I'll explain this to you in Kilika **IF**, you promise to be quiet. Understand me?'_

Tidus rubbed his head. "Uh...sorry. I need to sit down for a bit. I must have gotten hit harder than I thought."

Yuna giggled at his response. Even after almost being killed she still maintained a positive attitude

One by one more people began to pour onto the deck to survey the damage that had been done and if anyone needed medical attention. Some people started to cry with happiness that they were still alive, others cried because they thought Sin was moving on to Kilika.

The sun was beginning to set the skyline ahead was turning orange, it would be dark soon. It couldn't be much longer before they reached Kilika either. Two...maybe three hours? Mikal turned and began to walk below deck.

"Hey," Tidus yelled "Where ya going?"

Mikal turned around and smiled. "I'm starving and I'm tired. It's not everyday you get to fight off Sin. Come down to the galley and I'll buy you some dinner." He walked down the steps and soon enough he heard the others follow him.

Mikal wasn't looking forward to explaining anything to Tidus...

_A/N: Okay so chapter four is all said and done with, little more dialogue in this one as well as some action. Hopefully I've drawn a few people in so far and I want to see some reviews from those people. Don't be shy, I don't care how evil the review is. You could rip me apart for all I care! Anyway, R/R and let me know what you think of it so far._


	5. Explanations

Chapter 05 – Explanations

After a couple of hours Mikal was familiar with all of Yuna's guardians, even if they weren't familiar with him. The best example of that was the black mage, Lulu. All through his meal, Lulu continuously glared at Mikal. She didn't eat anything either, she just glared. Tidus was constantly asking questions to everyone, Wakka was already treating Mikal like a brother albeit a brother he hadn't seen in years, Kimahri was very quiet and just stood in the corner of the room keeping a close watch over Yuna, and Yuna just smiled and laughed at the jokes tied into the conversation.

"So why are you on a boat to Kilika, Mikal?" Lulu asked.

Mikal took a sip of his water. "I'm going to the Blitz tournament in Luca" He lied, Mikal figured that his true motive would be slightly creepy. "Haven't been to a tournament in a while, definitely looking forward to it." He finished. Lulu seemed disappointed, likely upset that his answer wasn't what she wanted to hear.

Wakka immediately perked up. "You play?" he said with excitement.

Mikal shook his head. "No. I like to watch though, but so does everyone in Spira though, right?" He said with a smile.

"You ever think about playing?" Tidus asked him.

Mikal had to think about it for a second. "I can't hold my breath that long so...not really. How do you guys do it?" He asked Tidus and Wakka.

Tidus and Wakka both looked at each other and chuckled.

"It's all in the sphere grid, ya" Wakka said "You do have a sphere grid right?"

Mikal reached into his pocket and pulled out his sphere grid. "Like this one?"

Mikal's sphere grid was a a very dark grey, black almost, and it had numerous nicks and scratches on it. Like other sphere grids it was made of pure stone infused with magic to make it indestructible.

"Whoa..." Wakka said with amazement "I've never seen one like that before. Where did you get it?"

Mikal placed it on the table in front of him. "I found it." he said "I found it out in Bikanel Desert. It was buried under the ruins of some old airship that had crashed. I was digging for three days and all I found was this. I took it to a museum to see if they had any interest with things like this and maybe I could make some money. The curator said no so I decided to keep it." He finished. "It looks better than my last one though; it was a nice bright purple."

"Sphere grid's will only be that colour if they are in the possession of a greatly evil individual, or if they are thousands of years old." Lulu said as she crossed her arms over her chest and glared at Mikal.

Mikal ignored what Lulu had said. "So how does holding your breath, which is usually a couple of hours, have anything to do with a sphere grid?"

Wakka pulled out his sphere grid and set it on the table. "I've got a blitzer sphere grid. The first node on the grid is actually the ability to hold your breath for a really long time, ya?"

Mikal scratched his chin. "So you're saying that all blitzers have these grids?"

"Not all of them, no. I have one because I'm Yuna's guardian and why not kill two chocobos with one stone right? Most other blitzers use magic to make them hold their breath longer." Wakka explained.

It was starting to make sense to Mikal now. "So all sphere grids are different then? Each grid has a different set of abilities?"

Wakka nodded. "Now you're gettin' it. Blondie and I have blitzer grids, Lu has a black mage grid, Kimahri has a blue mage grid and Yuna has a white mage grid."

Mikal handed Wakka his sphere grid "Can you tell what kind of grid this one is then?"

Wakka turned it over in his hands and eyed it very carefully for several seconds before shaking his head.

"Sorry, Mikal. This is way too old for me to even have a vague idea of what kind of grid it is. But I can tell you that you have some amazing abilities in here."

Mikal took his sphere grid back and looked it over "What kind of abilities are on here?"

"Well for starters you've got-" Wakka started

"Lady Summoner! Please come quickly." a crew member said.

Everyone at the table jumped up and ran after him.

* * *

"I will defeat Sin." Yuna said with determination as she knelt on the deck of the ship.

Kilika was all but gone. It was absolute chaos. Sin had charged right through Kilika and killed everything in its way. Tears were flowing from the majority of the people on the ship as they knelt with hands covering their faces in anguish. Mikal walked over to the side of the boat and rested his arms on the guard rails. He looked at his reflection in the water and grit his teeth. He was desensitized to the destruction that Sin could cause, he had seen it all before.

"Why are you really here?" Lulu came up beside him and asked with authority.

Mikal looked over at her. "I told you before, I came to see the Blitz tournament in Luca. What part of that do you find unbelievable?"

Lulu pushed a stray hair from her face and crossed her arms over her chest defensively. "Your sphere grid" she started "Thats incredibly old, you know that?"

Mikal looked at her with an angry expression. "If you've got something to say to me just say it."

"As soon as we get to Luca I never want to see you again." Lulu said as she placed a hand on Mikal's shoulder and channeled a fire spell through her fingers.

"What is your problem with me, Lulu?" Mikal said as he began to feel the pain of the fire.

"I don't trust you. You show up out of nowhere in the middle of a fight, get in close with Wakka, compliment Yuna to no end and then you buy us all dinner." Lulu listed as she strengthened the fire spell.

Mikal pulled Lulu's hand off his shoulder. "I'm a nice person. I figured I might show some kindness to someone who is walking to her death." he said as his green eyes glinted with anger.

Lulu opened her mouth to say something but closed it and walked away.

Mikal rubbed his shoulder in pain. "Don't be nice or nothing...jeez" he said as he shook his head.

As the ship docked in Kilika, Yuna ran off and was greeted by two Kilika natives.

"Greetings. I am the Summoner Yuna, I have come from the temple in Besaid."

The female Kilikian ran forward and gasped "M'lady Summoner!"

"If there is no other Summoner here, please allow me to perform the sending." Yuna finished.

"Thanks be to ye." The male said.

"Our loved ones, we fear they would become fiends will become fiends!" The female said.

"Please," Yuna said "take me to them."

Yuna, Kimahri, Lulu and the two natives continued off to go perform the sending.

Mikal walked off the boat with Wakka, Tidus and three other members. From the water, Kilika looked bad. From the dock, it looked worse. Homes were destroyed, the dock was unstable and could possibly collapse at any moment and there were scraps of clothing everywhere, most of it was children's clothing. Mikal didn't flinch when he saw the water. It was a faint red with blood and then he realized that there was a young man's body impaled on a wooden plank under the dock. Wakka groaned when he saw it, his dinner was most likely going to show itself at one point or another.

"We'll go see what we can do to help in town. Mikal, you comin' with us, ya?" Wakka said.

"Yeah...yeah sure." Mikal said as he rubbed his face with his hands.

As he walked past Tidus he looked him straight in the eyes.

_'We'll talk later.' _

Tidus shook his head and rubbed his temples. "Ouch..." he said quietly.

* * *

The dock on Kilika was bad. The town was worse. There were blood stains on the wooden catwalks, homes were destroyed, palm trees were bent at 90 degree angles from Sin's power and some parts of the town were unreachable. Mikal had seen this kind of destruction before, some places had been totally wiped off the map because of Sin. People who weren't at the sending were trying to salvage what they could to try and rebuild their lives. Woman and men sobbed as equals as they pulled wrecked family heirlooms out of the wreckage. Mikal looked around and saw a woman, surrounded by people, crying and looking below the dock.

Mikal walked over and touched her shoulder.

"Ma'am," he said "Is there anything I can do?"

The woman looked up at him with red eyes. "My daughter," she sniffed "She's still alive and she's stuck on the rocks." The woman pointed to where a little girl, couldn't be much older than five, was stuck on top of a rock.

Mikal knelt down near the edge of the dock. "Little girl," he called out to her "Are you hurt?"

The girl looked up at him, a large cut was on her forehead. "My head hurts," she cried "I want to see my mommy!". The little girl began to cry.

"It's okay, sweetie! Mommy's right here! Just stay there, we're coming to get you!" she called out. "Please...help my little girl."

Mikal nodded. He began to look for a way down. The girl was racked up on the rocks and there was no real way to get down and back up successfully with Mikal carrying her.

"Wakka! I need some help over here."

Wakka ran over to where Mikal was kneeling and looked down the hole in the dock. "That's a pretty big drop, ya." he said.

"Yeah and there is a little girl down there and I'm going to need your help getting her back up." Mikal said as he handed Wakka a thick plank of wood.

"What's this for?" Wakka asked.

There was a mechanical clicking, and the Katar on Mikal's right hand had extended to it's full length. He raised it up and pointed it directly at the plank of wood.

"Wait, what are you doin!" Wakka called out in suprise.

There was a resonating bang and puffs of steam came out the sides of Mikal's weapon. The center blade shot out and impaled itself in the piece of wood that Wakka held in his, now shaking, hands.

"I don't miss." Mikal said casually.

"Well you wanna inform me of that next time, ya!" Wakka shouted "You're using a machina weapon!"

Mikal looked at his arm. "No. I'm using a weapon that has a machina function, there's a difference."

Wakka sighed. "No there isn't. That is a machina weapon. Machina is forbidden by the teachings of Yevon."

"We can stand here and argue all day. But there is a girl down there," Mikal pointed to the edge of the dock "that needs our help. Machina maybe, but I know I can get to her."

Wakka looked at Mikal and frowned. "Alright. But don't expect me to do this twice." Wakka gripped the piece of wood tightly in his arms.

Mikal walked to the side of the dock and looked behind him at Wakka who was still standing in the spot where Mikal had told him to hold the piece of wood. Mikal cleared his throat and pulled on the wire that stretched from his weapon to the wood; there was only about 15 feet of line that Mikal had to work with. Wakka trotted up beside Mikal and stood with his feet wide apart. They both nodded at eachother and Mikal jumped off the dock and descended to where the girl was stranded.

"Hey there," Mikal said calmly "whats you're name?"

"Maddie." The girl said with a sniff.

"Hi, Maddie. My name is Mikal. I'm gonna take you back to your mom." He said as he reached a hand out to the girl. Maddie took Mikal's hand and he pulled her closer to his chest. "Hey, Wakka!" Mikal called out "Hold on tight to that piece of wood." He heard what he believed to be a 'What for?' but it could have been a '10-4' as well. Mikal took it as the former. "Hang on tight, Maddie." Mikal said with a smile. Maddie clutched his chest and closed her eyes. Mikal pulled the two switches with his index and ring finger and the two of them shot back up to the dock. Mikal heard a grunt as Wakka wasn't prepared for the sudden momentum change.

"You could have warned me, ya?" Wakka said as he reached out with one hand and grabbed the little girl.

"I thought you said you were ready?" Mikal said as he grabbed the dock and hoisted himself up.

"I couldn't hear what you said? You talk like a mouse, ya." Wakka said as he helped Mikal up.

Mikal watched as the little girl was embraced by her sobbing mother. The mother and the little girl walked over to thank Mikal and Wakka and embraced both of them.

"Thank you. Thank both of you for saving my daughter."

"It was nothing. Just happy to help." Wakka said.

Mikal just nodded and smiled at the two females before they walked away.

"That was a good thing you did back there. Even if you did do it with Machina." Wakka said.

"Not all Machina is bad, Wakka. You saw what I did back there to help that little girl. If used in the right setting it can do a lot of good." Mikal explained "Why do you hate machina so much? Aside from the fact that it is outlawed in the teachings of Yevon."

"It's all the Al Bhed's fault. My brother, Chappu, he joined the crusaders to protect Lulu." Wakka said.

"Your brother and Lulu were together?"

"Yeah, he was gonna propose to her once the Aurochs won the blitzball cup. He joined the Crusaders to fight Sin. I wanted to give him the sword that Tidus is using, but he wanted to use an Al Bhed machina weapon instead." Wakka explained "He didn't pray at the statue before leaving Besaid either, said he'd miss his boat. He used an Al Bhed weapon and because of that it's their fault that he was killed.

"Doesn't that seem a little prejudice to you?" Mikal asked as he sat down on the ground.

"It's in the teachings of Yevon, it's how I was raised, ya." Wakka said as he sat down beside Mikal "The Al Bhed don't follow Yevon so they're heretics, ya."

"I'm not trying to refute your beliefs, Wakka. It's just when someone follows a different religion doesn't always make them bad people."

Wakka rubbed his face in his hands and sighed. "I know but when it's in the teachings of Yevon it has to be right, ya? I mean...they wouldn't lie to all of Spira."

Mikal thought about that for a moment. "No. I suppose they wouldn't. Can you imagine the chaos that such an event would bring?" He said as he helped Wakka up.

"That would be pretty bad, ya?" Wakka said as he took Mikal's hand. "I've never met someone like you before, ya? Where were you born?"

"I was born in Bevelle. But my parents moved to Luca when I wasn't even a year old. I'm assuming that you're a Besaid native?"

"Yup," Wakka said as he pounded a hand on his chest "Born and raised."

The two of them began walking back to where the sending was taking place, talking the whole way. Mostly they talked about Yevon and it's ideals but the two also talked about Yuna and her fate that comes with being a Summoner.

* * *

Wakka and Mikal eventually met up with the rest of the group after stopping to help several more people who needed heavy things lifted or, after they heard the stories of Mikal saving Maddie, to give an autograph. The two of them were laughing by the time they rejoined.

"And that's how the Hypello were created." Mikal finished.

Wakka couldn't stop laughing as he almost keeled over onto the ground. "You gotta be kidding me, ya! Where did you hear that?" he laughed."

Mikal looked at him seriously before saying "You thought that was a joke? I was being serious."

Wakka stopped laughing for a moment and looked back at him. Mikal suddenly cracked a huge smile and started laughing again.

They continued to laugh even as the rest of the party started at them awkwardly.

"What's so funny?" Yuna asked cheerfully.

"Oh nothing, Lady Summoner. I was just telling Wakka how the Hypello were created." Mikal said.

Yuna clasped her hands behind her back and smiled "Can you tell me? I'm even so curious about their origins."

Mikal and Wakka both looked at eachother. "NO." they both said in unison.

Yuna frowned. "Is it really that bad?"

Wakka smiled and scratched his chin. "It's not something that a lady should know about."

"Oh." Yuna said, sounding disappointed.

Lulu was getting noticeably fed up with their antics. "Enough," she said as she waved her hand in front of her "We're going to the inn to rest for the night. You can join us whenever your ready, Wakka."

Mikal wasn't surprised that she had excluded him, they didn't start off on a very good foot to begin with. Nonetheless, Mikal still followed the party to the inn.

_'Wait until midnight. Come to my room. You'll get your answers.' _

Tidus rubbed his head. "I'm right here, ya know? You could just say something." He whispered.

Mikal grinned and threw his hood over his face. "Yeah I could. But that wouldn't cause you any pain."

"And you enjoy causing me pain?"

"Is that so wrong?"

"That's not funny!"

"You have no sense of humor."

When the group entered the inn they each took separate rooms and, after saying their good-nights, went to bed.

"I guess the owner got in cozy with Yevon." Mikal said to Tidus.

"What's that suppose to mean?"

"His business is still standing, no?" Mikal said as he opened the door to his room.

The room wasn't very large, but big enough for a queen size bed, a night stand, a writing desk, and an antique armoire in the corner. Mikal locked the door behind him and removed his cloak and hung it in the armoire. Next he moved into the bathroom and undressed and took a well deserved shower. The water flowed over his scarred body and he sighed, he hadn't showered since Luca almost two days ago. He stepped out of the shower and dried himself off, thankfully the towel was clean. Mikal tried not to look in the mirror as he passed but he couldn't help it. He stared as his reflection as his face became twisted with anger. Most people would see a young man with green eyes, black hair, relatively tall with tanned skin. Mikal saw a monster worse than any fiend. Mikal raised his hand and smashed the glass mirror, blood ran down his freshly washed hands. Mikal grunted as he ran them under cold water and wrapped them in the closest thing to a bandage he could find: toilet paper.

Three knocks were heard at the door.

_'knock three times if that's you'_

Three more knocks were heard. Mikal focused his energy on the lock and opened it.

_'It's open. Come in.'_

The door opened at Tidus came shambling in holding his head.

"Whats the matter with you? Can't you just answer the door like a normal person and not probe my brain!" Tidus yelled.

_'You really want me coming out there naked? That's defiantly a sight you don't want to see.'_

"Stop doing that! Talk to me like a normal person. How are you doing that anyway!"

"It's called telepathy," Mikal called from the bathroom "It's taken me a few years to master but I finally got it down."

"Can you read minds too, Mr. Wizard?"

"I can only speak through them. I can't read minds or put thoughts into them. But I can influence people to be better fighters." Mikal explained.

"How?" Tidus asked curiously.

"It's a part of my power in my sphere grid. At first I could only make myself stronger and faster, but now I can channel it through myself and into others. I'll show you sometime." Mikal said as he came out of the bathroom wearing only a towel.

Tidus eyed his scars. Mikal stared at him and sent a loud millisecond screech through his mind.

"OWW!" Tidus yelled "What was that for?"

"Ask me about my scars and I'll do it again." Mikal said casually.

"I thought you said you couldn't read minds?"

"I'm not an idiot either."

Tidus stared at Mikal again and sighed. "Okay," he started "I have some questions."

Mikal clasped his hands together "I'll try to answer them." he said with a smile.

"Why were you on the boat today? Truthfully."

"I can't tell you that." Mikal said.

"How are you such a good fighter?"

"Years and years of practice. I like to learn how to fight. It could be compared to you and blitzball. How are you so good?"

Tidus rolled his eyes. "Where do those weapons come from?"

"Bikanel Desert. They're awarded to high ranking Al Bhed military officers. To answer further questions on this: Yes I was in the military, no I am not Al Bhed but I am fluent in the language and yes I was honorably discharged."

Tidus seemed surprised "You were in the military? But you don't look that much older than me."

"I lied about my age to get in. I wanted to help."

"Okay," Tidus said "One last question."

Mikal shrugged his shoulders "Shoot." he said

"Why have I seen you at the blitzball stadium in Zanarkand before?"

Mikal's blood froze. How? How could he have seen? Mikal didn't have an answer.

"Is that a joke?" he asked.

"No. I've seen you in the stadium before. Every one of the Zanarkand Abe's games. You sit in the same spot and cheer with the same people. How are you here? How are you even alive? Did you get sent here with Sin like me?"

Mikal's face turned twisted. "get out." he said.

"What?" Tidus said, dumbfounded.

"I said GET OUT! If you knew half of what happened with me then you would know how to shut the hell up about these things!" Mikal screamed "Now...get out." He said as he opened the door without even standing up from his bed.

"But-"

Mikal sent a loud screech through Tidus' mind before sending him out the door and slamming it behind him.

'Dammit Tidus...why did you have to ask that question?' Mikal thought.

Mikal would have a hard time sleeping tonight now that someone knew who he was.

A/N: Okay so THIS is the longest chapter to date. Wow! So like before R/R and rip me to bits if you want. I hope that you guys and girls all like what's transpired during this chapter and have realized why it took me so long to write. I'm working full time and going to school so that is going to take priority over writing but I can always find time to have a little fun. I've already started work on the next chapter so I'm hoping to have it up by Monday. Thanks for reading!


	6. Time to Speak up

Chapter 06 – Time to Speak up

To say that Mikal slept bad would be an understatement. After his conversation with Tidus the night before, which had gone over a lot worse than Mikal originally thought, he had another vision. This one was worse than the one on the boat.

He didn't understand it at first but as soon as he saw Yunalesca's face he understood what was going on. She screamed in anger at him, even though it was a vision he still felt his ears ringing hours after the vision had passed.

_She was angry...angry at him._

_Mikal stood in the blackness of his mind, awaiting his master. He had been here many times before in the past, it was the only place safe to meet. He knew what he had done wrong and he regretted doing it from the moment he proposed it._

"_You best obey me, you vermin," Yunalesca spat at Mikal._

"_I apologize, Lady Yunalesca. It was not to my knowledge that Tidus would recognize me. It will not happen again." Mikal said honourably._

_Yunalesca swirled around in front of Mikal and grabbed him by the collar and hoisted him off the ground, such an event might have startled an ordinary man but Mikal had grown accustom to her outbursts._

"_You best behave!" she screamed at him "I should kill you right here; I could easily find someone else to replace you."_

_Mikal swallowed as he closed his eyes "I'm sorry, Mistress," he said "I promise you that such indiscretions will not happen again on my part."_

_Yunalesca smiled a wicked smile as she placed him back on the ground._

"_I should sincerely hope not," Yunalesca said as she flicked her hair._

_Mikal stretched his neck out and cleared his throat. "It will prove difficult to get close to the Summoner and her guardians, one already distrusts me," Mikal said._

"_What are you going to do about that?" Yunalesca said with growing anger. "You have not failed me yet and I shall warn you now that failure will not be tolerated."_

"_I have overcome such obstacles before. If I have to I will only follow and appear when I am needed."_

_Yunalesca walked up to Mikal and ran a slender finger down his chest. "Please do not fail me, Mikal." She begged him seductively._

_Mikal closed his eyes and stepped backwards. "No," he said._

_Yunalesca's breath quickened. "You DARE resist me?" She said angrily "You would do right to remember you place!"_

_Mikal felt himself slammed up against some invisible wall and his breath was cut off. "Please...let me go. It will not happen again," he pleaded._

_Yunalesca shook her head with a growing malicious smile on her lips. "You have forgotten your place, Mikal Na'berash," she said, using his full name. This brought a grunt from Mikal. "You need to be punished," she said as she floated towards him._

_Before Mikal knew it, he was naked in front of her. Yunalesca bit her lip and giggled evilly as she took in his body. She dragged a fingernail forcefully down his chest, leaving a wide gash. Mikal cried out in pain as he breathed harder. She enjoyed torturing her toys. She laughed again as she cut another gash in his chest. The blood flowed freely down his chest and collected at his feet, soaking them in warmth. Yunalesca giggled like a small child as she smiled and placed one bloody finger to her lips._

"_Do you remember your place?" She said with a smile._

_Mikal gave a reluctant nod as he clenched his fists. He knew he couldn't fight her, he wouldn't stand a chance._

"_Then go back to reality and do your job!" She said as she slapped him hard across the face._

Mikal's chest still ached in pain, two new, deep scars had appeared since his meeting. He looked out the window and saw that the sun was just about to rise. He had given up on sleep for today, he was too wired to sleep. Mikal jumped out of bed and quickly dressed himself in his clothing, not bothering to shower. He grabbed his weapons off of the nightstand and fastened them to his arms.

He walked out the door to his room and was thankful that no one was awake yet, only the manager.

"Did ye sleep well?" he asked.

"Not exactly," Mikal said as he walked out the door. The manager only stood there scratching his head in confusion.

Mikal made his way through Kilika, the town didn't look terribly bad in the dark. The sadness and chaos were nowhere to be found in the beginning hours of the morning, in fact, they were near non-existent. People had found places to sleep, be it with friends or other family, some had built ragged shelters just outside of their destroyed homes; it all seemed almost peaceful. Mikal looked at some of the faces that were spread about on the dock, they were all dreaming. They were dreaming of better times, before Sin had destroyed everything, before everything they knew was taken. Mikal sighed, he had forgotten how resilient the people of Spira really were.

The sun had risen and the sky was just recovering from its pink and orange sky to its regular blue by the time Mikal had reached the middle of the woods. It was so quiet, only the slight lapping of the waves and several bird calls could be heard. He decided to stop and rest, sitting down under a tree to catch his breath. He closed his eyes and exhaled slowly, taking in the sweet smelling air of the Kilika woods. He wondered how the Yuna and her guardians were doing. Had they already left to go to the temple? Mikal thought, Yuna would need the spirit of Ifrit before she left. There was a rustling in the bushes and Mikal sprang into full alert. He jumped straight up and grabbed on to the lowest branch of the tree he was sitting under and hoisted himself up, he climbed up a few more branches before staying perfectly still and watching below him. Tidus appeared from the bush, Lulu and Wakka.

"That Mikal guy is one heck of a fighter, ya?" Wakka said. Mikal grinned at the praise he was given.

"I guess," Lulu said, clearly unamused at the mention of his name.

"Come on, Lulu," Tidus said "You gotta admit that he is good. Did you see how fast he moved when we fought Sin? I don't think I can even move that fast!"

Lulu shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not that impressed, I've seen better than him before."

"Then I guess you aren't gonna be too keen if he becomes one of Yuna's guardians, ya?" Wakka said as he rubbed the back of his head nervously.

"What?" Lulu said, enraged by Wakka's words.

"Oh," Wakka said "I guess Yuna didn't talk to you about that...did she?"

"No..." Lulu said through gritted teeth "I don't want him anywhere near Yuna, he will put her in danger. I don't trust him and neither should you, Wakka."

Tidus, staying quiet through all this, finally spoke up. "Why not keep him around? If not as a guardian then have him follow us like what Yuna asked me to do. Just keep him close by, you'll never know when we need another fighter."

Lulu glared at Tidus.

"There's a reason that the Auroch's have benched players, Lu. In case the big players get tired, we can call in the back ups," Wakka said, waving his hands in front of him, trying to convince the mage.

Lulu cast a hard glare at Wakka. "It is not up to me," she said "If Yuna would like him around then she will ask him. He leaves on the same boat as we do, we shall discuss it when we are in the temple."

And with that, the small clearing to head off in another direction. Mikal waited several moments before dropping back down in silence.

"That was close..." he said as he wiped his brow with his wrist. He looked in the direction that they were heading, he could see the very tip of the temple through the trees.

Mikal jumped up into the tree and hopped from the branch he was crouching on to the tree right across from him, he landed on the balls of his feet in a crouch and looked out to another tree. He jumped out towards his target and realized as soon as he jumped that it was too far away. He quickly produced his katar and fired it into the thickest branch as he fell. The blade stabbed into the branch and Mikal pumped his legs hard as he swung only inches away from the ground, several coyote fiends stared at him hungrily as he zoomed past; disappointed that they had missed their lunch.

He brought the Katar blade back and he fired it into another branch, continuing his movement style towards the temple.

"Why have I never thought of this?" Mikal said with a laugh.

He fired one last blade and he rocketed through the canopy of the jungle, he couldn't help but let out a excited cry as he flipped in the air. He began to descend towards the treeline again and he quickly repositioned himself, his feet facing the trees. He spotted an open patch in some of the trees and aimed for it, preparing to hit the branch.

Suddenly, he was hit from behind and was sent falling forward. Mikal hit the branch hard on his chest and had the wind knocked out of him, letting out a loud 'oof!', he fell to the ground.

He looked up and saw the culprit of his attack, a giant wasp hovered down to where he lay. Mikal tried to stand up but was knocked to the ground as the wasp landed on his chest, stinger poised to strike him in the gut. The wasp's mouth clacked and saliva oozed from it, Mikal didn't want to know what would happen if he got any of that in his mouth. His katar flew open and came up just to the side of the wasp's head, there was a crunch as one of the antenna was cut off. The wasp screeched in pain as it stumbled around, trying to regain its balance. Mikal stood up, albeit under intense pain from his obvious broken ribs, and dropped into a low battle stance.

He gasped as he heard movement behind him, he rolled to the side as a large lizard leaped past him, claws ready to kill. He grimaced in pain and coughed up a small amount of blood, his ribs were broken for sure. The two fiends looked at eachother and seemed to silently agree that they had a better chance to kill Mikal together.

"You're gonna have to work for your meal today!" Mikal said as he raised his right arm out to the side and placed his other hand on the ground, placing his weight on his finger tips.

The lizard was the first to strike, coming at him fast from the front, teeth bared. Mikal grimaced as he jumped at his foe, he slapped the fiend hard in the side of the head with his weapon and kicked into a roll behind it. The buzzing of wings above him brought his attention skyward. The wasp struck Mikal in the shoulder, leaving a gash that pounded with pain. He was thrown into a tree and slumped to the ground, he couldn't fight them in this condition.

Mikal shook his head, trying to get the ringing to stop, he looked at the two fiends that were closing in on him. He grinned. His eyes glowed white as he held his unarmed hand out towards them. The wasp screeched loudly and fell to the ground and tried to flap its wings to get back in the sky; it's wings were unable to flap in rhythm and it only managed to slam into its ally before twitching violently and disappearing into pyreflies. The lizard, who had now regained its footing after being knocked over ,circled him and searched for a potential weakness.

Mikal drew both his weapons and crouched low, gritting his teeth as he felt his broken ribs shift, he was done, the pain was too great.

The lizard charged with a loud screech and raised one clawed leg to deal the killing blow.

It was knocked in the head by a blitzball.

"Over here you big ugly fiend," Mikal heard a male voice yell.

Tidus exploded out of the bushes, flipping in the air. He drew his sword in mid-air and came down hard on the fiends neck, severing it clean. Mikal put both his weapons away when he saw that the lizard was no longer a threat.

"Hey," Wakka said as he ran over, seeing that Mikal was in quite a bit of pain "you don't look so good, ya."

Mikal chuckled. "Ya think?"

Tidus walked over and handed Mikal a green flask. "Here, drink this," he said.

Mikal took it from his hand and popped the top off, it smelled terrible. He raised the bottle to his lips and chugged it down, it tasted worse. Instantly he felt the pain in his ribs go away and the cut on his shoulder disappear.

"That tasted terrible," Mikal said as he stood up and rubbed his side "but thanks."

"Some great fighter, huh Wakka?" Lulu said from beside Yuna.

"They ambushed me. Everybody thinks that they're mindless killing machines but you throw a piece of meat between them, they fight like animals. You throw a piece of living food in between them, they fight to see who gets more." Mikal explained.

"Seems you know a lot about fiends," Lulu said "how do you know so much?" She crossed her arms defensively. Mikal couldn't take anymore of her accusations.

"You don't play well with others, do you Lulu?" Mikal said as he shakily got to his feet. "I don't need to answer any of your questions. I don't need to take anymore of your accusations," Mikal stood only several inches from Lulu's face "I don't need to listen to you."

Lulu recoiled as the last words were almost spat at her. Mikal walked off towards the temple, anger burning inside him. He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, almost wishing something would jump out and challenge him so he could cut it down.

The mage had no right to question him about his motives or his knowledge.

He climbed the stairs to the temple, hoping that the others were very far behind him.


	7. First Anger Then Respite

Chapter 07 – First Anger Then Respite

Mikal sprinted up the stairs, almost knocking over several people in the process. He wanted to be as far away from the Summoner as possible for a while. In hindsight, going up to the temple where the summoner was supposed to acquire one of her Aeons, was probably a bad idea. His legs burned as he started to take the steps in triplets; he was practically flying up the stairs. He rocketed over the final step and landed in a large open area. He was breathing heavily, he didn't know he was running so fast; the anger from his confrontation with the mage had fuelled his sprint.

Mikal walked over into the middle of the massive stone circle and sat down, there were other people there as well, all standing around and talking about what had happened yesterday. Mikal had to disagree with their knowledge of "The higher you are, the safer you are."

Not from what he'd seen.

He lowered his hood down and stretched out his neck, he was so tense lately; his "meeting" with Yunalesca hadn't helped either. As much as he didn't like being around Lulu he had to put up with her, if only for a little while. Mikal didn't dare attack her, he was no match for a skilled mage. He had fought mages before, it wasn't easy. As vulnerable as they are while spell casting they are also very fast at spell casting, especially simple spells like fire or lightning. Some mages were different from others, some made the dead rise at their feet, others sent the forces of nature after their foes, and some, as repulsing as it sounded, used their own blood to cause extremely powerful magic.

Mikal sat down on the ground and closed his eyes. If he was going to be pestered by Lulu he was going to relax first, if only for a little while.

* * *

Tidus scratched the back of his head as he watched Mikal walk off in the direction of the temple.

"What'd ya think is his problem?" Tidus said.

"Just another childish little boy," Lulu spat as she walked off, "Come. We must hurry to the temple."

The others fell in behind her. Although Yuna was the summoner, Lulu was like the leader of the group, she always led them in the right direction and kept them on track. Tidus took step beside Yuna.

"So...what do you think of Mikal?" Tidus asked.

"He's nice. But...he seems very troubled," Yuna said "his heart holds a certain heaviness. He seems very sad under the surface."

"You sound like you've known him since you were a kid."

"He is an incredible fighter, he believes he can take down any foe. It would be an honor to have him as a guardian." Yuna said with a smile.

"Lulu doesn't seem to like him very much," Tidus said, suddenly feeling jealous at the way Yuna spoke about the fighter.

Yuna giggled, "Lulu is just overprotective, she'll come around eventually."

Yuna unclasped her hands and sighed. "She'll never allow him to be one of my guardians."

"It's not Lulu's decision, Yuna, It's your decision of who becomes your guardian." Tidus said, regaining confidence that he had retaken the position in Yuna's heart.

Yuna smiled at Tidus and re clasped her hands in front of her chest as she bounced on her toes. Tidus couldn't help but smile back and the two quickly fell into a fit of laughter.

* * *

If Mikal could have said 'I told you so', he would have said it right at the moment the Sinspawn burst through the ground and began swatting at the villagers. It wasn't like anything he had seen before. The spawn had several green tentacles and was covered in a thick shell, this wasn't going to be an easy fight, especially on his own. The Sinspawn seemed to know exactly where Mikal was even though it had its massive shell covering its eyes, but it wouldn't be able to hit him.

Mikal ducked under three tentacles and threw his cloak in the air as he rushed at one of its arms. The spawn, preoccupied with what it believed was Mikal, was defenceless to the onslaught of attacks that hammered into its arm. Mikal flipped into the air and slashed wildly at the arm of the beast. It disintegrated into pyreflies within seconds. He turned around to face the creature's main body but was met with a hard strike in the head by one of the tentacles. Mikal was thrown several feet before slamming into the ground and skidding to a stop near a stone pillar.

So maybe it could hit him. No big deal, nobody was around to see him fall. He would be able to get back on his feet and act like-

"Mikal!" A male voice called out.

Mikal turned his head and looked in the direction of the voice, it was Tidus.

"Oh crap," Mikal said quietly.

He stood up and shook his head, trying to regain normal vision. He didn't need his vision to hear the "SWOOSH" of the tentacle aimed at him. Mikal jumped over the blow, flipped upside down and sliced off the tentacle before landing on his feet and crouching back into a low battle stance.

"You okay?" Wakka asked Mikal as he threw his blitzball at the Sinspawn's outer shell.

"Yeah I'm fine. Took a big hit is all. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right?" Mikal said as he threw a hard right kick at a tentacle aimed at his neck.

"Enough talk," Lulu said "defeat this enemy and you two can chat all you like."

Mikal rolled his eyes and watched as Kimahri sliced at the Sinspawn's shell. It started to open. It revealed an even more disgusting sight. The true form of the Sinspawn was a tall green plant like creature with two arms that split into tentacles at the end. It wasn't very pretty looking, especially with the liquid that was spilling from its mouth.

"Yuna, summon your aeon!" Wakka yelled out and placed a hand on Mikal's chest and started to push him back.

"Hey, what are you doin'?" Mikal said as he struggled against Wakka.

"Trust me kid, you don't wanna be close to this thing, ya?"

Mikal pushed Wakka's hand away. "I can take care of myself!" he said harshly.

He started to walk towards the Sinspawn, both weapons gleaming in the sunlight.

A tremendous gust of wind stopped Mikal in his tracks. Valefor hovered in front of him, flapping its massive wings. Mikal stepped backward, blushing at his actions. Wakka had a smug smile on his face.

"Reconsider?" He said.

"Getting obliterated by an Aeon wasn't on my to-do list today," Mikal said with a grin.

The Sinspawn screamed in anger at its new enemy. Valefor let out a scream of her own, it pierced the sky and made Mikal cover his ears with his hands. The spawn swatted at Valefor but she dodged it easily, flying over it and letting a blast of energy fly from her wings that slammed into its head. It swatted at her again and Valefor gracefully twirled around the attack and let out another screech, more melodic this time. Mikal watched as she threw her head back and fired a thin stream of energy out of her mouth and cut straight across the Sinspawn. It seemed unscathed at first but the line suddenly exploded and the Sinspawn disintegrated into pyreflies. Valefor turned and looked at Yuna and flew back up into the sky. Mikal couldn't help but smile at how strong Yuna had become already.

Tidus bent over and placed his hands on his knees, panting heavily.

"Being a guardian is tiring," Tidus said breathlessly.

"You handle yourself pretty well," Wakka said "you got talent."

Tidus grinned sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head. Mikal walked off to find his cloak, or what was left of it. Mikal could hear Wakka and Lulu explaining Sinspawn to Tidus, it was amazing how clueless he was. After several moments of searching the area, Mikal found his cloak. Thankfully it was untouched aside from some dirt and rubble marks. He threw it on and began to walk after the others up to the temple.

"Mikal strong fighter," The deep stoic voice of Kimahri came from behind him.

"Thanks. You're not so bad yourself," Mikal said as he nodded at Kimahri.

"Kimahri protect Yuna. Yuna want you to protect her. Kimahri thinks that is good idea."

Mikal smiled. Had he achieved what he had been trying to do since the start?

"I...I never really thought about it," Mikal lied "It certainly would be a good story to tell the kids when they're born."

Kimahri gave Mikal a weird look, "You father?" he asked.

Mikal shook his head with a smile, "No, but someday I hope to be. What about you? You have any kids?"

Kimahri shook his head, he looked sad. "Kimahri not allowed to have children. Kimahri have broken horn. When Ronso horn break for good, Ronso no longer allowed to have children."

"I'm sorry," Mikal said as he looked forward to where the others stood on a landing. He watched as Kimahri walked past him to where Yuna stood, his loyalty was unquestionable, he would protect Yuna until the end. The group continued after, what looked like, a fight between Lulu, Wakka and Tidus. Mikal trailed behind for most of the climb, he had nothing to say that hadn't been explained already. Sinspawn, fiends, Fayth, Summoners, all of it had been explained to Tidus; he wasn't left in the dark anymore. But that didn't mean he wasn't clueless. The way he talked to Yuna, he heard them on the boat to Kilika, Tidus clearly had no idea what was supposed to happen to Yuna. No idea that she would be killed at the end of her journey. Nobody thought to tell him? Or was there just no way to tell him? He obviously cared about her too much too lis-

"Whatcha thinkin' about?" Tidus said, he was uncomfortably close to Mikal's ear.

Mikal stumbled slightly as he tried to get the ringing in his left ear to stop. He crossed his arms and sighed, looking directly at Tidus who suddenly was the main topic in his thoughts.

"Nothing," he said "nothing important."

Tidus looked at him and chuckled. "You look very constipated when you're thinking about nothing."

Mikal blushed heavily and glared at Tidus. "I do not look constipated!" he said loudly, almost too loudly as the others turned around and gave him a suspicious look.

Tidus laughed as he placed both his hands behind his head. "Listen," he started "what I said last night, just pretend it didn't happen."

Mikal smiled slightly at what he said. "I already have," he flipped his hood up over his face and climbed the last step to the outer temple "and if value your mind I suggest you do too."

Mikal left Tidus scratching his head in confusion as he tried to understand what he had said.

The Kilika temple was massive. Two large spires extended towards the sky, parallel to each other while the entrance was flanked by two massive walk ways. The entire temple looked almost like it was made of coral but the stone was stained with beautiful blues and tans and greys. It truly was a place of beauty. Mikal walked past Yuna and her guardians and went and sat down on the stone stands that surrounded the temple courtyard. He discretely watched as Wakka was hassled by another member of a blitzball team, he wanted to step in but decided against it. Mikal pulled out his sphere grid and decided to give it a once over, he hadn't put much thought into actually advancing it since he found it. He squinted as he tried to read the ancient Spiran that was cracked and missing around some of the slots.

"Slow...blind...poison...drain...gravity...these are all dark spells," he grinned as he turned the grid around in his hands, "could this be a dark knight grid?"

Mikal pondered the possibility for a moment before he started to advance the grid, if this was a dark knight grid, then it would be very very powerful. The only doubt that was in his mind was that a dark knight grid hadn't been made or found in many years. Every slot made him feel stronger and faster than before. He dropped a few ability orbs into blind and poison. He didn't know that doing so would burn the ability into his brain. Said statement felt exactly how it sounded. Painful. After learning several new abilities, and most likely invoking some form of permanent brain damage, Mikal headed into the temple. He was able to enter just as Yuna was getting grief from another Summoner, who wasn't wearing nearly enough clothes. Mikal once again decided against stepping in, this wasn't his fight nor his story. He sat down against the stone and listened to the exchange.

"...Even more so than being my father's daughter. Of course...I wouldn't think of questioning your ways either. So, Lady Donna, I ask of you – please leave us in peace." Yuna said. Mikal had to smile at this, she was becoming more like her father.

"You do what you want. Barthello, we're leaving." The other Summoner said as her and her guardian left.

Yuna sighed. Mikal smiled under his hood and decided it was time to speak up.

"You handled that quite well. Wise choice of words," Mikal said as he placed his head on his knee "couldn't have said it better myself."

Yuna stumbled with her words, seemingly startled at Mikal's sudden compliment.

"Thank...thank you, Sir Mikal," She said as she followed up with a prayer to Yevon.

Mikal raised a hand and sat back against the wall again. "I don't remember earning that title so please, save it for someone who deserves it."

Yuna was taken aback, "Yes...yes of course." Yuna bowed at him and smiled as she headed off into the cloister of trials.

Mikal knew his place, he wouldn't follow, but why was Tidus following? Had he already been given the title of guardian?

Mikal sighed and puffed a strand of hair out of his face as he leaned back and closed his eyes, hoping to get some rest; the morning and rest of the day had really taken its toll on him. He knew that Yuna would be down in the trials for a while so he decided that it would be best if he rested for right now. Mikal crossed his arms over his chest and slowly drifted off to sleep.

A/N: Sorry about that long wait to post another chapter. Between work and school its getting hard to post a new chapter as early as I would like. I assure you readers thought that, even though there might be a couple of weeks where a chapter won't get done, there is always a new chapter being written. Unlike some writers, I jump around when I write. One day I'll write in chrono order and others I'll jump too a chapter that is halfway into the story or even close to the end, just helps me stay fresh. Anyway, the good news is: THIS ONE IS DONE! R&R and I'll post the new chapter really soon (I promise.)


	8. Lulu's Rage

Chapter 08 – Lulu's Rage

Tidus wandered through the Cloister of Trials, seemingly confused at every glyph he came too.

"Why do they have to make it so hard!" he cried out loud.

He had been struggling to find his way through for more than a half hour; it couldn't have taken Yuna and the others this long to get thorough this mess – could it? Tidus sighed as he placed another orb into a slot and the wall burst into fire and dissipated. He brushed away some of the ash that had fallen on him to the floor and continued forward.

"I wonder," he said aloud "when I become a guardian will I be allowed to come down here?"

Tidus shuffled around more orbs and watched as lines of light were traced across the floor towards another wall. The wall lowered to the ground and Tidus was greeted by another maze of passages and orbs. He sighed and walked over to an orb.

"Want some help?" A male voice said.

Tidus jumped. "Who are you?" He said as he put his hands up in a fighting stance.

The figure looked out from under his, he eyes gleaming in the light. He grinned as he pulled his hood back. It was Mikal.

"Mikal," Tidus said as he lowered his hands with a surprised expression on his face "what are you doing down here? And...how did you get down here without me seeing you?"

Mikal winked at him. "Just one of my many talents that I have."

"You're just full of surprises aren't you?"

"I do try. Now take that orb and place it in that hole in the wall. Once that's done, take the new orb and place it on the pedestal," Mikal explained.

Tidus was hesitant at first, Mikal showing up out of the blue just to help him seemed a little odd. But all of Mikal's words were true. Everything happened just as he said in that room, and the room after that AND the room after that. Tidus was beginning to think that Mikal had done all of this before.

"How do you know what's going to happen in each room?" Tidus asked.

"It's not hard to figure out. Each room has its specific objective. One might be to destroy a wall or another might be to put out a fire. You'll learn to figure them out eventually."

The two of them managed to finish off a couple more rooms before Mikal decided it was time to see what Tidus was capable of.

"You do this one," he said as he leaned on a wall.

Tidus nodded his head and began to look around the room, trying to find its objective. Once finding it he set about trying to accomplish it.

"So...you can teleport?" Tidus said.

Mikal chuckled. "I wouldn't call it teleporting. More like...shifting, you could call it."

"Shifting?" Tidus said curiously.

"Yes. I don't appear instantaneously, it takes time."

"Could you make a little more sense?"

"With teleporting," Mikal began "one appears immediately at their chosen destination. With shifting, I have to literally rip a hole in the world around me and jump through it. It isn't as easy as it sounds."

Tidus shrugged his shoulders and placed a newly made glyph on a pedestal in the middle of the room. "It doesn't sound easy. How far can you go?"

"As far as my body can handle. If I stay inside for too long it gets...dangerous," Mikal said as he twitched his nose.

"Dangerous?" Tidus questioned.

"Yes. Dangerous. The farther I have to go, the longer I have to stay inside of the warp."

"The warp?" Tidus asked.

"The warp is what I've called the inside of a shift. I can still see outside but it's distorted, there is no sound and the inside is incredibly cold," Mikal explained.

"How cold is it?" Tidus asked.

"If I try and stay inside of the warp for extended periods of time, I could freeze to death."

Tidus cringed as pictured the results. "That's...brutal," he said.

"Yeah I know. Finish this room so we can keep moving," Mikal said impatiently, not wanting to talk anymore about his ability.

Tidus placed a sphere in a hole in the wall and the wall disintegrated.

"You were saying?" Tidus said with a smirk as he walked through the hole.

Mikal rolled his eyes and followed Tidus through, they would be close to the end of the trials soon.

"You're a pretty good fighter," Tidus said randomly.

"Glad you noticed."

"Wanna teach me some moves?" Tidus asked.

Mikal looked over at him and glared.

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm not. End of discussion."

"You have to give me a reason," Tidus said, pressuring Mikal like a small child.

Mikal stopped walking and faced Tidus. "I worked my whole life to get where I am. I'm not teaching some newbie techniques that took me years to master," Mikal said as he turned away from Tidus, slightly angry.

Tidus lowered his gaze from Mikal, slightly intimidated by his response. Mikal had no intention to teach Tidus any of his techniques, and for good reason. Mikal saw the door to the Chamber of the Fayth, it would be bad news for the both of them if they went in there and Mikal wasn't exactly on Lulu's good side whereas Tidus could play off anything. Tidus was about to enter the door when Mikal placed a hand on his shoulder and stopped him.

"This is where we part ways. I'll see you back topside," Mikal said as he playfully punched Tidus' shoulder.

"Does...does this mean we're on good terms now?" Tidus asked.

Mikal placed a hand on his chin and thought for a moment.

"Yeah I think we're good for now. But don't go asking anymore silly questions about my past or nothing," he said as he gave Tidus a thumbs up.

Tidus scratched the back of his head sheepishly and gave a big smile as he closed his eyes. When he opened them, Mikal was gone.

"Huh...he's pretty quick at doing that," Tidus said aloud.

_'Quicker than you think.'_

Tidus jumped as he heard Mikal's voice.

"Thats not funny!" He yelled. He stormed off into the Chamber of the Fayth, wanting to meet up with Yuna and the rest of them.

* * *

Mikal shifted back into the hallway just outside of the Chamber of the Fayth.

"Braska's little girl has grown up. She was such a nice kid too," Mikal said as a tear dropped from his eye and fell to the ground.

"Braska..." Mikal began "you would be proud of Yuna. I only wish you were here to see how strong she has become."

Mikal pushed the thought from his head as he ripped open another hole behind him and walked through it, embracing the cold feeling that had welcomed him only seconds before.

* * *

Tidus entered the Chamber of the Fayth and almost immediately was swarmed by Lulu and Wakka.

"Woah woah woah!" Wakka said anxiously.

"It was Donna and that big muscle head man," Tidus said with Disgust as he tried to explain himself.

Lulu scowled at Tidus. "Yuna will be the one to suffer the consequences!"

Tidus was confused. "Uhhh...what consequences?"

"She could be excommunicated," Wakka said with concern as he turned his back and walked away. Lulu followed soon after, both of them going back to their place on the wall.

Tidus stood beside Wakka. "So what's in there anyway?"

"The Fayth. Don't you remember?" Wakka said.

Tidus followed with disheartened "oh yeah. That thing."

"The Fayth are people who gave their lives to battle Sin," Lulu piped in from across the room "Yevon took their souls, willingly given from their still living bodies."

Tidus, once again, replied with a dumbfounded "Huh?"

Lulu continued to explain what a Fayth was but all Tidus could think of was Mikal. Him showing up was beyond strange.

"Could a Fayth take physical form?" Tidus interrupted.

Lulu and Wakka were both taken aback by Tidus' question.

"What do you mean?" Wakka asked.

"I mean...could a Fayth take on physical form. In there," Tidus pointed at the door to the room where all Summoner's prayed "The Fayth is a spirit. But out here, could it possibly be...like...human?"

Wakka and Lulu both looked at eachother with puzzled expressions.

"What are you trying to say?" Lulu asked.

"Well Mikal-" Tidus began.

"Mikal isn't a Fayth," Lulu said angrily "he is just a person like you or me! He isn't anything special!"

Tidus couldn't help but smirk at Lulu's statement, and he quickly bit his tongue to stop himself.

"I don't know what it is with him that has you two so infatuated with him but I'm telling you that he is bad news!" Lulu said enraged.

"Lulu..." a voice said from behind them.

Lulu, Wakka and Tidus all turned around and saw Kimahri holding Yuna steady.

"Yuna, I-" Lulu began.

"Stop it. I won't have you talk about him like that. He is a good person, I can see it inside of him," Yuna said with a look of determination on her face.

"Yuna, I didn't mean-" Lulu said.

"Yuna is right, Lu. Mikal isn't a bad person. He has more than proven that to me and Tidus, ya?" Wakka said as he clasped a hand on Lulu's shoulder.

Yuna walked up to Lulu and hugged her tightly. "Please. Don't be angry with me, I put a lot of thought into my decision."

Lulu looked down at Yuna. "Decision?" She asked.

Yuna looked up at Lulu and nodded. "Yes. I am going to ask Mikal to be my guardian."

Lulu noticeably twitched at the statement. "What?" she said confused.

"Yuna make Mikal guardian. Yuna trust Mikal. Kimahri trust Yuna." Kimahri said from the back of the room.

"I...I don't think that that is such a good idea, Yuna," Lulu said "but...it is your decision so I must stand beside you on it."

Yuna smiled at Lulu and brought her into a tight hug.

Lulu didn't like the decision one bit. She didn't trust Mikal at all. If Mikal was going to be travelling with them from now on then Lulu would have too keep her guard up and watch Mikal constantly.

And if he stepped out of line or presented a threat to Yuna then Lulu would have to deal with him herself.

* * *

A/N: OKAY! So yes this has been a long time in the making and for good reason. School has been really difficult lately and work has been even harder. Balancing the two has been an amazing feat that I feel should be rewarded with some sort of prize. I promise that the next chapter will be up next week sometime, hopefully on Monday/Tuesday afternoon. So once again the basic routine still applies, R&R and let me know how I'm doing.


	9. Comatose

Chapter 09 - Comatose

Mikal sat on one of the benches just outside of the temple, waiting for the party to exit. If Tidus kept his mouth shut they would have no idea that he was in the Cloister of Trials helping Tidus. The kid wouldn't have been able to make it through them without Mikals help. Wakka led the way out of the temple with Tidus flanking beside Yuna, he looked rather upset. Mikal stood up and walked down the benches towards the two of them. Just then, Tidus let out a loud scream that caused everyone in the surrounding area to look directly at them. It also caused Mikal to lose his footing and fall head first onto the stone ground. He moaned as he sat up and rubbed his head.

"So the graceful warrior finally falls," Lulu said sarcastically as the party stopped to look at him.

"Very funny, Lulu. I'd like to see you get down those steps with that dress on," Mikal retorted.

This caused Lulu to blush and Wakka, Yuna and Tidus all chuckled quietly.

"That's not funny," Lulu said as she turned around, her face even more flustered.

"So she can dish it out but she can't take it, I've met a lot of people like that before," Mikal said as he walked towards the party.

"Lu's always been the sarcastic one, ya?" Wakka said, taking a punch from Lulu.

Mikal grinned and the party continued onward. They walked down the stairs and made their way back to Kilika. Any fiends that stood in their way were quickly dealt with by Yuna's new Aeon, Ifrit; Mikal had forgotten how vicious he looked. When they finally arrived back in Kilika the party was allowed a few minutes to pick up anything that they needed. Mikal took the time to sit by the boat and fiddle with his sphere grid. He gave it a once over and saw that only a few nodes were glowing, he had to pick what he needed now and wait until more had opened. Although the entire sphere grid could be seen, the user had to pick a path to the abilites that he or she wanted. He tapped into two speed nodes and three defence nodes, feeling the new power flow through him. One ability that was lit up caught Mikal's eye. Under the ability was etched the word 'Float'. Mikal touched it with his index finger and he instantly felt the burning of the skill in his mind. When the pain subsided Mikal shook his head and tucked the sphere grid back into his cloak.

"It hurts doesn't it?" Yuna said to Mikal.

Mikal chuckled "It does, yeah. I'm getting stronger though, no pain no gain."

Yuna clasped her hands over her chest. "It's different for me. I get all my abilities from the Fayth. I've never known what it feels like to learn an ability by having it forcefully burned into my head."

Mikal stood up and stretched his arms out. "I imagine I'll get used to it once it happens enough. I'm still getting used to the whole 'I own a sphere grid thing'," Mikal said as he started to walk onto the boat.

"You mean you've owned a grid for years and you never realized how to use it?" Wakka blurted out, Mikal didn't see him standing so close to where he once sat.

Mikal shrugged his shoulders. "I guess not. I never really had much use for a sphere grid because I've had my abilities. I've just carried it around as a good luck charm, glad too see it's not just taking up pocket space anymore."

"What abilities?" Lulu said as she glared at him.

Mikal glared right back. "Magic," he said "as well as that nifty trick you all saw me pull back in Kilika woods."

"Yeah that was...something," Tidus said nervously.

"Don't worry, Tidus. I'm not going to make your brain melt inside your head," Mikal said as he walked past everyone and onto the boat.

"Off to Luca at last," Mikal heard Wakka say behind him "the matches start soon as we get there, so rest up on the way."

Mikal walked onto the deck and headed down below to have some time to collect his thoughts, also he had a splitting headache on the way. He stumbled down the hallway to find his room, the pain getting more and more unbearable by the second. He opened the door and fell face first into his room. Crawling several feet forward, he swung his hand backwards and slammed the door using his powers. Mikal slammed his hand on the floor and gritted his teeth.

"No...not here!" he cried out, but it was too late.

His entire world fell into blackness around him as he was rocketed into Yunalesca's reality. He knelt on the ground, holding his head.

"Poor Mikal," Yunalesca said as she floated into view "the little boy is in pain."

Mikal gritted his teeth as he glared at her. "What did you do to me?"

"You're head?" Yunalesca said "I put too much force didn't I?"

Mikal clutched his head and dropped it too the ground.

"Let...me...go!" he said between pained breathes.

Yunalesca cocked her head to the side and placed her right hand over her mouth.

"Oh I'm so sorry!" she said sarcastically. Almost instantly the pain in Mikal's head disappeared.

"Why did you do that?" Mikal said in anger as he clenched his fists.

Yunalesca giggled as she touched down on the ground and walked towards Mikal, swaying her hips more then what should be needed.

"I had to get your attention somehow," she said as she placed a finger under Mikal's chin and pulled him to his feet.

"Why was it more painful this time?" Mikal asked "not that I'm complaining."

"I was having trouble finding you, I had to put more strength into my search," she pulled herself close to him "can you ever forgive me?" she said in a sultry tone.

"I have too," Mikal said "If I don't, I stay like this forever right?" he threw his arms out to his sides.

Yunalesca giggled as she nipped gently at his neck. "That's right," she said "and if you don't listen to me and do exactly what I say, you get hurt," she bit his neck hard. Mikal grunted and grabbed her by the shoulders, but slowly released her.

"What is it that you want from me? Obviously you didn't bring me here just so you could have your fun," he said.

Yunalesca looked up at Mikal, a small line of red trailed from the corner of her mouth.

"I only wanted to tell you that you're doing a good job. If you don't want me to congratulate on your work then I won't," she said, wiping the blood from her mouth.

Mikal stared deep into her eyes, practically burning a hole in her.

"If you want to congratulate me then set me free when this is over."

"What do you mean?"

"This is the last one, remember? I've helped you for all these years and this is the final one. You promised," Mikal said as he crossed his arms.

Yunalesca was taken back by Mikal's outburst. "Oh," she said "I had forgotten all about that. Where has the time gone?"

Mikal ground his teeth, he would have hit her but knew that it would be futile.

"I want to go back to the way I was. I want to be human again."

"But you are human, Mikal. You've always been a human. But with perks," Yunalesca said with a slight chuckle.

Mikal clenched his fists again, this time charging her, faster then he thought possible. Before he knew it, he had grabbed her by the neck and had thrown her to the ground, already she began to gasp for air in panic.

"Not being able to die isn't part of being a human!" Mikal screamed as he slammed her head on the ground once and then letting her go, backing away while breathing heavily.

"I've watched thousands of friends die! Loved ones who've turned to dust! I watched you betray Lord Zaon and I said nothing! Look where that got me!"

"You will not speak of that!" Yunalesca yelled as she sprang up and move inhumanly fast towards Mikal.

Mikal gasped as he felt a massive pain in his stomach. He looked down and was shocked.

Yunalesca pulled her arm out of Mikal's stomach, blood dripping in bucket loads off her arm and from the wound.

Mikal grunted and dropped to one knee, staring up at her. Yunalesca had no emotion on her face.

"For your sake, the next time we meet, I pray that you have a better choice of words," she said as she kicked Mikal clear across her plane. She followed him in mid air and threw him hard at the ground. Before he reached it however, Mikal was rocketed back onto the world of Spira.

Mikal landed back in his room, gasping in pain. He looked down at his shirt and was relieved to see that there was no wound, but the pain was incredible. He coughed up a mouthful of blood and rolled over onto his back, trying to focus all of his energy onto the one spot. His breathing came shallow as his heartbeat slowed to a dangerous rate. He had thrown himself into a catatonic state and if anyone found him they would, without hesitation, declare him dead. The light slowly faded from his eyes as he went deeper and deeper into a coma.

_'This might take awhile...glad that I've got a few hours to spare.'_

The blood flow slowed to a near crawl, minimizing any sort of internal bleeding. Infection wasn't a worry to Mikal, but any sort of internal bleeding was definitely something that would hamper his performance . The energy coming from his body would stop the bleeding and heal anything that was wrong inside. Mikal soon lost all brain activity and his energy began to manipulate his system. He dropped fully into a coma and let his healing do its work.

A/N: Okay so another chapter down, not really where I wanted to end it but I think it'll work out better this way for the next chapter. Thank you to everyone who has been dedicated enough to read this far and to everyone who gave this fanfic a chance. Next chapter might take awhile, school is getting really hectic right now because of exams and work is...well work is just getting really stupid so I'm not going to get into that. But yeah, next chapter touches on how Mikal recovers from his injury and what goes down in Luca. As always, R&R and let me know how I'm doing.


	10. Author Note Please Read

Chapter 10 – Author Note

To the loyal readers,

I would like to inform all of you that "Forever In Service" is still in production, I have not forgotten about it nor have I forgotten about all of you. There hasn't been a day that goes by that I don't think about this story and how I can try and improve it. Due to unforeseen circumstances I was unable to post for quite some time (as you can all probably tell) and writing was put on the back burner. My solution to the lack of updates, under advisement from several friends who have been pushing my for several weeks to do this, is to rewrite all the chapters. I have taken into consideration all the work that this entails and am more than willing to jump on board with it. The rewrites will not be as simple as deleting a couple of lines and then writing in a few new words, no, they will be COMPLETELY rewritten. Every chapter, every line, every single thing will be rewritten.

Now I must ask something from all of you.

All of the views that this story has gotten is overwhelming. I remember seeing five views on the second day and being absolutely ecstatic, even if people only read the first chapter and hated it, five views was a lot to me. So I ask all of the readers, all the fans, everybody who has enjoyed but a line of this work, to review me on my progress. If you don't like a part of the story, let me know, It's a learning experience for me. If you like a part, then let me know. I cannot make this story flourish without outside input, I'm asking for all your help on this. To everyone who has read this, I thank you. To everyone who has come back to read the next chapter in Mikal's life, I thank you. Please, help me create the next chapter for Mikal.

Sincerely,

Archangel2125


End file.
